Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Daniella Odiana is asked to call Montgomery County Police Non-Emergency (301) 279-8000 (24-hour line).
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Montgomery Parks‘ annual deer population management program will take place from September 2023 into March 2024, across 48 parks. Two new park locations are being added to the deer management efforts this year. Montgomery Parks will notify residents adjacent to newly added/adjusted park locations by mail, signage, and other electronic forms of communication such as email and social media posts. A complete schedule of program dates and locations is available online. This year, archery-managed hunts are being added to the following park locations:
In addition to these expansions, one deer population management park location (3 park units) will also see an adjustment to the strategy. North Germantown Greenway Stream Valley Park (Brink Rd. & Wildcat Rd. southeast)/Great Seneca Stream Valley Park Unit 2/Blunt Rd. Local Park will transition from firearms-managed hunting to archery-managed hunting. Initiated 27 years ago, the program addresses deer populations in many areas of the county that result in deer-automobile accidents, excessive damage to the environment, private landscapes, and agriculture and concerns over disease. Once programming is implemented and established in these areas, routine maintenance is required to balance deer with available habitat and human land uses.
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Per the State of Maryland: Governor Moore yesterday toured the United States Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel to receive a briefing on the facility’s expansion plans. The governor reviewed 17 expansion and renovation projects, aligned in steps between FY24 and FY27, including a proposed 755,000 square feet of new facilities, the renovation of 53,000 square feet and continued use of 111,000 square feet.
“It is my honor to stand with the dedicated public servants of the United State Secret Service who are entrusted with protecting key leaders, locations, and events every day; they are the guardians of our democracy,” said Gov. Wes Moore. “Prince George’s County deserves to be the home of greater federal investment, and I am encouraged that the expansion of the Rowley Training Center is ready to move forward.”
The Mental Health Version of an Annual Physical Is Here
By Montgomery County Counseling Center
You get the annual physical. You go to that 9am dentist appointment. You’re vigilant about your sleep and exercise. You treat your well-being as something you maintain, not just repair. Why is mental health different? Why aren’t we more proactive? Why do we only seek out support when something goes wrong? Mental health is so often treated like an afterthought when routine check-ups can make a world of difference. Montgomery County Counseling Center is working to change the way we view mental health with a new offering designed to put wellness and preventative care on the map for good.
For most people, mental health care follows a pretty predictable pattern. Something gets hard enough and it lasts long enough that it finally feels like a problem worth addressing. So then you find a therapist and you start working on it until you’re out of crisis, and then you stop. But that’s not the only path and for a lot of people, it’s not the best starting point either; the threshold for “is it bad enough to say something” ends up being way higher than it needs to be, and a lot gets ignored in the meantime.
Think about how you approach the rest of your health. You don’t wait for a heart attack to see a cardiologist. You don’t wait until you’re sick to get your flu shot. You plan ahead. You stay on top of it. You check in. You make decisions based on something more than a gut feeling or a bad stretch. The value of a routine checkup isn’t that it always finds something. It’s that you know either way, and make minor precautionary tweaks. Mental health doesn’t have to be any different.
And yet, for most people, it is. There hasn’t really been the equivalent of an annual physical for mental health. No annual touchpoint, like a birthday or a new year, where someone sits down with a professional and simply goes over how they’re doing. There’s certainly no outside party, like a school, a sports league, or a camp that insists you get checked. That’s why people fall through the slim cracks between doing great and being at risk. After all, the absence of a crisis is not the same thing as a clean bill of mental health. (more…)
Per Westfield: Westfield Wheaton will host the annual back-to-school fair in partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 26 (two days before students in Montgomery County are scheduled to report back to school on Monday, August 28). The event will take place in The Streetery, the center’s outdoor event and dining space situated between Macy’s and the food court on Parking Level 2. Shoppers and members of the community will have the opportunity to enjoy family-friendly activities while learning more about the school system, county programs and receiving free curriculum resources.
This year’s 2023 Back-to-School Fair promises to be an even more dynamic and informative event. “We are so excited and look forward to welcoming families to the new school year,” said MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight. “As we begin our new school year, we are reminded of the importance of our partnerships with families and community and we say, ‘All Together Now”; an excellent example is our continued partnership with Westfield Wheaton to bring these valuable resources and information to our community. We encourage all MCPS families to engage with the more than 100 offices, businesses and organizations at the fair as we prepare for an amazing school year at MCPS.”
Join Us for StoryBox Comics Fair, a two-day festival celebrating local and independent comics authors!
Day 1 – Saturday, June 27th, 11-5pm @ DwightMess compound (805 Silver Spring Ave): Events are open to the public, admission is FREE. Featuring Special Guest Artists, gallery exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, a modeling session (suggested donation) and exhibitors, you can dig in to indie comics and also tour the compound, which features an extensive comics collection, a rare video collection, Risograph and screenprinting studios.
Per the Maryland State Police: Maryland State Police helicopter crew rescues three people in two separate hoist missions Sunday in West Virginia. Shortly after 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command was called to perform an aerial rescue for an injured hiker and his teenage son. The father-son pair had been out in the woods in Tucker County, West Virginia since Saturday, when the father suffered an injury. Trooper 5, based out of the Cumberland Section, was requested for the aerial rescue due to the rescuers’ limited resources, terrain difficulties, an extended extrication time and the nature of the father’s injuries.
The helicopter was configured for a hoist while the pilots filed for an instrument flight rules clearance. These rules are rules and regulations to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe. Once overhead, the 49-year-old injured hiker, and his 13-year-old son, were located along the Red Creek Trail in Dolly Sods along the river.
Bassett’s Restaurant at 19950 Fisher Ave in Poolesville plans to reopen next month. The restaurant closed due to a fire on June 5. Owner Erika Myers tells us repairs are taking longer than anticipated due to the wait for construction permits. The fire was located in a small building in the back, with no extension to the main building/restaurant.
Bassett’s, which opened in 1993, closed its doors on December 31, 2021. Myers, who worked at Bassett’s for over 15 years before leaving to open Rio Grande Grill in Germantown in 2020, purchased the restaurant and reopened it in May, 2022. Menu items include fried chicken, burgers, salads, and home-style entree’s such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, and grilled calves liver.
After 38 years, Hair Expressions, A Paul Mitchell Partner School has announced that it will be closing its Rockville campus (12450 Parklawn Drive). They will continue to offer their educational programs at their Jessup Campus (near Columbia, MD).
Hair Expressions – Paul Mitchell Partner School, has made its home in an 11,500-square-foot facility in Montgomery County since the the mid 80s. The school has been located just across the street from the Twinbrook Metro station, and is known for its “breathtaking monuments, free attractions, and endless calendar of special events.” Through team meetings, public outreach, and fundraising events, their Future Professionals have had the opportunity to socialize with like-minded students, make a positive impact on the Rockville community, and build leadership and teamwork skills that will help prepare them for a successful career in the beauty industry…all while offering discounted services to the community.
Per the Maryland Lottery: The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency helped to generate $1.589 billion in contributions to the state during Fiscal Year 2023 from Lottery ticket sales, the state’s six casinos, sports wagering and daily fantasy sports. In FY2023 (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023), the combined contribution to the state included $848.1 million from casinos; $714.3 million from the Lottery; $25.3 million from sports wagering; and an additional $1.2 million from daily fantasy sports. Maryland Lottery and Gaming is the state’s fourth-largest source of revenue after income, sales and corporate taxes.
“The Maryland Lottery launched in 1973 with the mission to generate revenue for the state’s good causes,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “As we’ve been celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, we’ve also been navigating a gaming landscape that is continually evolving, most recently with the addition of sports wagering. But as we adapt to new responsibilities, we’re always mindful of that core mission, and we’re proud to do our part.”
With around 8.6% of Americans having moved last year, slightly more than the previous year, but still below pre-pandemic levels, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Best States to Live in, with Maryland coming in 27th between Connecticut (26) and Washington (28). Maryland’s highest ratings came in the Safety (14th) and Education & Health (18th) categories, with its lowest ranking coming in the Affordability category (38th).
To help Americans settle down in the best and most affordable place possible, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 51 key indicators of livability. They range from housing costs and income growth to the education rate and quality of hospitals:
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a call for a house fire at approximately 9:30pm on the 7600 block of Hawkins Creamery Rd near Laytonsville on Sunday night.
According to MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer and Assistant Chiefs James Carpenter and David Pazos, crews from Montgomery and Howard County responded last night for an outside fire that extended to the roof of the single family home, before crews were able to extinguish it. A family of five (two adults and three children) along with two dogs and a cat have been displaced, but were uninjured. One firefighter was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), “Hot and humid air paired with an approaching warm front will result in thunderstorms later today. Some storms may become severe, with damaging winds, large hail, and an isolated tornado all possible threats.”
Temperatures are expected to approach 90° and feel warmer due to humidity. Chance for rain and/or thunderstorms increases in the afternoon and into the evening hours. Per the NWS, all of Maryland and Northern VA are in the ‘Slight Risk’ category for severe weather. Featured photo courtesy of the National Weather Service.